I had traveled very little on my own as a young adult and many, many years ago when I went for the first time to Vegas for Interbike I had the chance to get too close to some impressive firearms and very grumpy, very large men when we were leaving the airport.
At the time I was working for a small distributor and I'd flown in light - carry-on only. Leaving the show the good folks at one of the brands we carried had given me a stack of their new super light, totally inline, not-yet-released miniature road pumps to send out to good dealers for feedback when I arrived home. I bundled them together with a quick wrap of tape, threw them in my pack, and hopped a shuttle.
The scariest part was actually the way the border agent screening my carry-on asked if I'd be okay with him running my bag through the scanner again. Almost a dare? When he asked if I was okay with him running it through _again_ as the ratio of passengers to security started to become very unnerving it suddenly dawned on me - ACME Dynamite right out of a Roadrunner cartoon.
"THEY'RE BICYCLE PUMPS. MINIATURE BICYCLE PUMPS! FOR INFLATING TIRES!"
Everyone was super chill after that (I may have still been shaking a bit the next day) and it was all good flying out, but to this day I don't drop someone off at an airport without going through every pocket of everything I've thought about wearing in the last three months at least four times.
April 12, 2022, 7:17 p.m. - Andrew Major
I had traveled very little on my own as a young adult and many, many years ago when I went for the first time to Vegas for Interbike I had the chance to get too close to some impressive firearms and very grumpy, very large men when we were leaving the airport. At the time I was working for a small distributor and I'd flown in light - carry-on only. Leaving the show the good folks at one of the brands we carried had given me a stack of their new super light, totally inline, not-yet-released miniature road pumps to send out to good dealers for feedback when I arrived home. I bundled them together with a quick wrap of tape, threw them in my pack, and hopped a shuttle. The scariest part was actually the way the border agent screening my carry-on asked if I'd be okay with him running my bag through the scanner again. Almost a dare? When he asked if I was okay with him running it through _again_ as the ratio of passengers to security started to become very unnerving it suddenly dawned on me - ACME Dynamite right out of a Roadrunner cartoon. "THEY'RE BICYCLE PUMPS. MINIATURE BICYCLE PUMPS! FOR INFLATING TIRES!" Everyone was super chill after that (I may have still been shaking a bit the next day) and it was all good flying out, but to this day I don't drop someone off at an airport without going through every pocket of everything I've thought about wearing in the last three months at least four times.